Safety device for electric vehicles.



No. 655,389. Patented Aug- 7-, I900.

F. E. CASE.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR-ELECTRIC VEHICLES. (Application filed May 20, 1899.) (No Model.) I i 2 Sheets-Sheet I,

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No. 655,389. Patented Aug. 7, 1900.

F. E. CASE.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

(Application filed. May 20, 1399. (N0 Model.) V 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

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UNITED STATES PATENT omen.

FRANK E. CASE, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF NEXV YORK.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

srncInIcA'rroN forming part of Letters Patent No. 655,389, dated August 7, 1900.

Application filed May 20, 1899. Serial No. 717,539. (No model.)

T at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK E. CASE, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Electric Vehicles, (Case No. 1,015,) of which the following is a specification.

It has sometimes happened in the opera- IO tion of electric and other motors, and particularly, in railway-motors, that the motorman or engineer has become injured or has fainted from one cause or another and has allowed the motor or train to run wild with serious results. In accordance with my present invention I provide for this emergency by a certain safety device which when the motormans attention is taken from his work, even if momentarily to such an extent as to make him remove his hand from the controlling handle or lever or relax his vigilance, shuts off the power. Further, I provide a device making it necessary after this has happened to bring the handle to substantially the off position before the power can again be turned on.

This invention is of special value when applied to electric railways, in which constant care has to be exercised, and also when ap- 0 plied to the turret-motor or engines of warships where aninjury to the man at the sighting-levers may, unless some such device is applied, cause the turret to rotate so far as to jam it unless the injury is discovered at 3 5 once. It has been suggested to use on a controller a powerful spring acting upon the controller-cylinder with suflicient strength to return it to zero when the motorman releases the handle. This, however, if the spring be 0 strong enough to effectually fulfil its purpose, takes considerable strength and in the course of a long run becomes so exhausting to the motorman as to be entirely impracticable. For such methods I substitute a latch upon the controlling-handle, which is kept depressed so long as the motormans hand rests upon the latter, the weight of the hand being ample to hold it, so that it requires but little muscular exertion. If, howso ever, the hand he removed even momentarily, an automatic device is operated independent of the position of the controlling-handle, which robs the motor of power. A subsequent pressure upon the latch does not, however, restore the power, but the controllinghandle must be brought to the off position, and its proper manipulation in turning on will again admit the power. With this arrangement when applied to electric motors I may combine (and by preference do use) a current-measuring coil in-the main circuit, which shall act upon the same circuit-breaking contacts, so that if at any time an excessive current flows, as when a short circuit occurs in the apparatus, the circuit-breaker will be opened and damage prevented as far as possible. In practice the circuit-breaker should be so arranged that only an excessive current and one which could seriously damage the apparatus will operate it.

In the accompanying drawings, which show an embodiment of the invention as applied to an electric-railway car, Figure 1 is a front elevation, with parts in section and With the cover removed, of a controller to which the invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a plan on the section-line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged detail views; and Fig. 5 is a diagram of circuits, not, however, showing the circuits of the controller, since the invention is independent of these.

In Fig. 1, A is the controller-frame, and B is the handle which operates the controllerc'ylinder G to make the connections with the Various contacts G in the usual way. It is provided with the insulating-disk G preventing the arc jumping from the controllercontacts to the other mechanism, and with the usual star-Wheel G to determine the properposition of the controller. These parts are all well understood and require no detailed description. Upon the shaft of the controller is mounted a sleeve D. A projection 61 from the sleeve contains a slotin which one end of the lever C enters when the other end is pressed by the pin 0. A. button B controls the pin and holds it down against the power of the spring 0 while the hand of the motorman rests upon the handle. The spring 0 is made as light as is consistent with its office, and inasmuch as the'weight which it has to move is very small it may be made quite flexible, so that the weight of the hand and arm is ample to hold down the button 13 as long as may be necessary. A spring E is inclosed within a housing D, forming part of the sleeve, one end of it being secured to the sleeve and the other to a pin E projecting from the top of the controller. The office of this spring is to throw the sleeve forcibly to the off position whenever the end of the lever O releases the lug (Z. It is plain that this spring may be of much less power than if it were intended to throw the entire controllercylinder to the off position against the friction of the brushes and step-by-step device.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3, and 4, D is a toe formed upon the sleeve D, from which the cam-plate D projects. This registers with the toe 1 of the circuitbreaking contact I. This toe is pivoted to the lever or contactI and a lug 2' upon it engages with a corresponding projection, so that when the toe 1 moves up it will move the lever I; but the toe may be moved down freely, a spring t restoring it to its proper position. The contacts K K are bridged by the contact I, which is prevented from moving too far by a stop 1'. A series coil H is included in the circuit, the armature h of which is fixed to a pawl H, which engages with a projecting arm I, holding the latter so as to close the contacts K K when the device is set. A pin h upon the camplate D operates the pawl against the spring 71.2 when the controller is brought to the off position. An arm M carries the intercepting shields L of the controller, the usual blowout magnet being provided, and an additional part L is arranged upon this arm, so as to afford a suitable blow-out for the contacts K K.

The controlling-handle being in its off position, the button B will be depressed as soon as the motorman grasps the handle, and the end of the lever C will enter the slot in the projection 61 on the sleeve D, thereby connecting said sleeve to the shaft of the controller. When the controller-handle is moved to the right, the cam-plate D is turned, and the toe D presses upon the pivoted toe I throwing the contact I so as to bridge the contacts K and moving the arm I so that the pawl H engages with its end and holds the contacts closed. YVhenever the controller is at one of its running positions, the usual pawl (not illustrated) falls in one of the notches of the star-wheel G So long as the end of the lever O is in engagement with the slot in the projection (Z most of the power of the spring E is opposed by the pawl and starwheel constituting the step-by-step device, so that comparatively-little strength is needed to hold the controller inits position. If, however, the button 13 be released, the end of the lever O is withdrawn from the lug (Z and the spring snaps the sleeve around, independently of the motion of the controller-cylinder, into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The pin 71 then engages with the pawl II and releases the arm I. A spring I (see Fig. 1)

then throws open the contacts K by moving the bridging-contact I, and the blow-out magnet .ruptures any are which may tend to form. To reset the device, the controller-handle must first be moved to turn the controllershaft back to the zero or off position. lVhen the handle has been moved to this position, the end of the arm 0 may by a depression of the button B be caused to again enter the slot in the projection'd. Thereupon the forward movement of the controller-handle will operate, as before, to turn the cam-plate D and, through the engagement of toe D with the pivoted toe 1 to again throw the contact I so as to bridge the contacts K, the spring 7L2 operating, as before, when the pin it is withdrawn to force the pawl H into engagement with the arm I.

In Fig. 5 the circuits of the device are illustrated. It will be seen that the coil H is in series between the trolley and the contacts K K, one of which is connected to the upper or trolley contact G of the controller, as shown in Fig. 1. lVhen this arrangement is used, it is manifest that when the circuit is completed through the motors N N any excessive current in the coil H will draw up the armature h and release the pawl H, and the circuit-breaker will immediately open. It may, however, be reset by the manipulation of the controller-handle in the way already pointed out.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In combination, a controller for electric circuits, an operating-handle therefor, a circuit-opening device, and means operating independently of the controller, upon the release of said handle, for opening the said circuit-opening device.

2. The combination with a controller for electric circuits, of a circuit-opening device, means actuated by the controller for closing the circuit at the circuit-opening device, and means operating independently of the controller and brought into action by releasing the controller-handle, for opening the circuit.

3. The combination, with a controller for electric circuits, of a circuit-opening device, means for closing the circuit-opening device actuated by the first movement of the controller from its off position, and means, operating independently of the controller and brought into action by the release of the controller-handle, for opening the circuit-opening device.

a. The combination, with a controller for electric circuits, of a circuit-opening device, means for setting it actuated by the first movement of the controller from its off position, means for opening the circuit-opening device brought into action by the release of the controller-handle, and means for opening the same device operated by excess of current in the controller-circuit.

5. The combination, with a controller for electric circuits, of a circuit-breaker in series with the controller, means independent of the controller for opening the circuit at desired times, and a connection between the control ler and the circuit-breaker, such that the first movement of the controller after reaching its off position resets the circuit-breaker.

6. The combination with a controller for electric circuits, of a circuit-breaker in series with the controller, means independent of the controller for opening the circuit-breaker at desired times, and a cam actuated by the controllershaft for resetting the circuit breaker when the controller starts from its ofl position.

7. The combination with a controller for electric circuits, of a spring=- actuated cam upon the controller, a circuit-breaker in series with the controller, means actuated by the handle of the controller for revolving the cam and setting the circuit-breaker, and means, brought into action by the release of the controller-handle, for releasing the cam and permittin g the spring to open the circuit-breaker.

8. The combination with a controller, of a sleeve upon the controller -shaft, a connection from the controller-handle to the sleeve such that when the connection is brought into play the sleeve revolves with the controller, a cam actuated by the sleeve, and a circuit-breaker operated by the cam; the arrangement being such that when the connection between the sleeve and the controller-handle is released, the cam revolves and opens the circuit breaker, and when the sleeve is engaged by the handle, the cam when revolved sets the circuit-breaker only after the controller has been returned to its off position.

9. The combination with a controller, of a spring-actuated sleeve upon the controllershaft, means for connecting said sleeve to said shaft, and a circuit-breaker operatively connected to said sleeve.

10. In a device for regulating the application of power, a controller, a controller-handle therefor, a circuit-breaker, and means controlled from the handle for operating said circuit-breaker independent of the position of the handle.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of May, 1899.

FRANK E. CASE.

Witnesses:

B. B. HULL, M. E. JAooBsoN. 

